COAL:
• Critics say CenterPoint Energy’s plan to replace a retiring coal plant with smaller natural gas turbines is unnecessary, uneconomic and environmentally destructive. (Energy News Network)
• Great River Energy’s member electric cooperatives endorse a plan to sell the largest coal plant in North Dakota to a new operator and purchase electricity from it for at least a decade instead of shutting it down. (Associated Press)

RENEWABLES: Xcel Energy plans to accelerate its decarbonization plans, cutting emissions 85% by 2030 and adding 10,000 MW of renewable energy capacity in Colorado and Minnesota. (Utility Dive)

PIPELINES:
• Enbridge officials say the Line 3 replacement and expansion in northern Minnesota will be in service by the end of the year, despite ongoing legal and regulatory challenges. (CBC)
• The Dakota Access pipeline operator is at odds with a North Dakota oversight board over the public release of thousands of pages of documents involving a private security company and pipeline protests five years ago. (Grand Forks Herald)

OHIO: Former House Speaker Larry Householder and former FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones worked closely together to secure subsidies for the utility’s power plants. (Associated Press)

SOLAR:
• Ohio landowners and farmers are divided over dozens of commercial solar projects under consideration by state regulators. (Spectrum News)
• Local officials plan to hold town hall meetings on a proposed 1,400-acre solar project in Missouri, which would be the largest in the state. (KTVO)

CLEAN ENERGY: A newly formed North Dakota clean energy board will meet for the first time next month as officials debate which clean energy projects should get state funding support. (Bismarck Tribune)

CARBON CAPTURE: Analysts say carbon capture and storage’s pathway to financial success is narrow as North Dakota considers several ways to reduce fossil fuel emissions. (Grand Forks Herald) 

UTILITIES:
• Nebraska Public Power District officials seek public comments on ways for the utility to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. (North Platte Telegraph)
• Past due bills climb steeply in Minnesota as a moratorium on utility disconnections is set to expire today. (Star Tribune)

WIND: The developer of a central Illinois wind project plans to use taller wind turbines with longer blades to bolster the project’s output. (WGLT)

OIL & GAS:
• Customers of Kansas’ largest natural gas utility could be paying off the costs of February’s cold snap for another decade. (Kansas Reflector)
• Missouri regulators tell federal officials that a St. Louis natural gas pipeline should continue operating to maintain reliability. (Missouri Times)

BIOFUELS:
• Iowa biofuel advocates say state officials should make it easier and cheaper for gas stations to sell fuel with higher blends of ethanol. (Radio Iowa)
• Kansas’ U.S. senators hope to meet with President Biden to discuss biofuels’ role in his climate and energy agenda. (WIBW)